KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said in Belagavi on Monday that he has made several sacrifices for the Congress party. “Since the beginning, I have made sacrifices only to strengthen the party and protect the government. When the late N. Dharam Singh was the Chief Minister, I held my breath and kept quiet. During Siddaramaiah’s first term as Chief Minister too, I made sacrifices,” he told reporters.

“I believe it is my job to protect the government. I am not worried about myself. The party is important to me. I have grown to be a leader only because of the Congress. I know that my sacrifices have contributed to the welfare of the party and the people and that is enough for me,” he said.

Mr. Shivakumar said he was upset that some media houses had wrongly interpreted his visit to the home of Firose Sait, former MLA and Congress leader, in Belagavi on Sunday. “It was not a political visit. I went to meet him as he is my old party colleague. Some reports said that my visit was in the backdrop of the fight between various party factions. That is far from the truth,” he said.

Mr. Shivakumar said he would not comment about the reports of differences between him and Minister Satish Jarkiholi. “There are no groups in the party. There is no rebellion, no factionalism, and no difference between groups,” he said.

“I do not want anyone to use my name to create differences in the party. I have no differences with anyone. All Cabinet Ministers and MLAs are the same. I will respect all those who work for the party and I will work with them,” he said.